7. Big Brother at the Soda Fountain

It’s known as the Big Apple, but don’t expect to quench your thirst with a big soda in New York City. Led by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the city’s board of health passed a ban on supersize sugary sodas sold at restaurants, mobile food carts, sports arenas and movie theaters. The ban applies to any sugared drink larger than 16 oz. and is part of Bloomberg’s continued effort to improve the health of New Yorkers. Citing studies that show that drinking a can of sugared soda a day adds an extra 14,600 calories to a person’s diet every year, or 4 lb. in weight gain, the mayor and the city’s public health officials hope the effort makes a difference in the waistlines of city residents. The ban doesn’t apply to fruit juices, alcoholic beverages, diet sodas or dairy-based drinks like milkshakes, and larger beverages can still be purchased at grocery stores and convenience stores. Soda makers, restaurateurs and other businesses are fighting back against what they claims is an infringement on people’s right to chose their own beverage size, and filed a lawsuit against the city.